News

As
outside temperatures rise, the dangers for children being seriously injured
or even dying from being left alone inside a hot car also rise. That’s why
Safe Kids Cobb County has joined with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) in an effort to reduce these deaths by reminding
parents and caregivers about the dangers of heatstroke in young children.

“More than half of all vehicle-related heatstroke deaths in children are
caused by a child accidentally being left in the car, and more than 30
percent are from a child getting into a hot car on their own,” said Tommy
Sanders, Safe Kids Cobb County Honorary Chairperson. “In an effort to
prevent these needless tragedies, we want to urge all parents and caregivers
to do three things:

1)
NEVER leave a child in a vehicle unattended;

2)
Make it a habit to look in the backseat EVERY time you exit the car;

3)
ALWAYS lock the car and put the keys out of reach. And, if you ever see a
child left alone in a hot vehicle, call 911 right away.

According to NHTSA, heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle
fatalities for children 14 and under. In fact, one child dies from
heatstroke, early every 10 days, from being left in a hot vehicle.

Warning signs of heatstroke include: red, hot, and moist or dry skin, no
sweating, a strong rapid pulse, or a slow weak pulse, nausea, confusion or
acting strangely. If a child exhibits any of these signs after being in a
hot vehicle, cool the child rapidly (not an ice bath but by spraying them
with cool water or with a garden hose). Call 911 or you local emergency
number immediately.

“Children’s body temperatures can rise up to five times faster than that of
an adult, and heatstroke can occur in temperatures as low as 57 degrees,”
said Sanders. “On an 80° day, a car can reach deadly levels in just 10
minutes.”

NHTSA and Safe Kids Cobb County want to remind everyone of a few key safety
tips to prevent deadly accidents and to prevent vehicular heatstroke:

•
Never leave an infant or child unattended in a vehicle—even if the windows
are partly open, or the engine is running and the air conditioning is on;

•
Don’t let children play in an unattended vehicle. Teach them a vehicle is
not a play area;

•
Make a habit of looking in the vehicle - front and back - before locking the
door and walking away;

•
Take steps to remember not to leave a child in a vehicle:

•
Write yourself a note and place it where you’ll see it when you leave the
vehicle.

•
Place your purse, briefcase, or something else you’re sure to need in the
back seat so you’ll be sure to see a child left in the vehicle.

•
Keep an object in the car seat, such as a stuffed toy. Once the child is
buckled in, place the object where the driver will notice it when he or she
leaves the vehicle;

•
Always lock vehicle doors and trunks and keep keys out of children’s reach.
If a child is missing, check the vehicle first, including the trunk.

•
Ask your childcare center to call you if your child doesn’t arrive on time
for childcare.

• If
you see a child alone in a hot vehicle, call 911 or your local emergency
number immediately. If they are in distress due to heat, get them out as
quickly as possible. Cool the child rapidly (not an ice bath but by spraying
them with cool water or with a garden hose).

With spring comes the delight of longer, warmer days and our renewed
focus for keeping kids safe as the temperature rises. Did you know that even
in temperatures as low as 57 degrees, an unattended child in a vehicle can
be seriously hurt or die from heat stroke?

Inside our homes, it seems obvious, but sometimes we forget that when we
open windows to let in fresh spring air, children can fall through them. And
no matter what the season, every day in the U.S. about 165 young kids - or
roughly four school busloads of children - are seen in emergency rooms after
getting into medications, which are the leading cause of child poisoning
today.

This month we share safety tips to help prevent injuries and deaths due
to heat stroke, falls and accidental poisonings from medication.

HOT TIPS THIS MONTH

Never Leave Your Child Alone in a Car

Starting in March, when the sun gets stronger, we hear report after
report that a child has died of hyperthermia, also known as heat stroke,
while unattended in a vehicle. These tragedies affect mostly infants and
toddlers, but it can happen to children of all ages. Learn how you can help
raise awareness and prevent these tragedies in your community.

It's National Poison Prevention Week, and medications are the predominant
cause of poisonings among young children. Each year more than 60,000
children are admitted to emergency departments after getting into
medications unsupervised.

Safe Kids' new Medication Safety Guide provides resources to avoid this
very preventable form of poisoning. Check out our Facebook page for a chance
to win a Poison Center refrigerator magnet..

Spring: It's time for a change! Change your clocks and batteries.
When it's time to "spring forward" and change the clocks on Sunday, March
11, make sure to change the batteries in all of your smoke alarms. If
batteries were recently changed, it's still very important to conduct your
monthly test of your smoke alarms. It could save a life!

Did you know that having a
working smoke alarm reduces a person's chance of dying in a fire by half?

For the best protection,
install smoke alarms on every level of your home, outside every sleeping
area, and in every bedroom. Smoke alarms should be mounted high on walls or
ceilings and tested monthly.

It's important to replace
smoke alarm batteries once a year, unless they're 10-year lithium batteries.
Even if your smoke alarms are hardwired, replace the batteries in case of a
chirping sound or a power outage.

Reminder: Smoke alarms do
not last forever. The maximum life span is 8-10 years. After that time, the
entire unit should be replaced. If the unit does not respond properly when
tested, it should be replaced immediately.

Furniture HazardsFacts: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates
that between 2000 and 2010 there were at least 245 deaths related to tip-overs
of furniture, televisions or appliances among children ages 8 years and
under.

Most of
these deaths, 90 percent of them, involved children younger than 6.

In
2011, the CPSC identified this issue as one of the top hidden home hazards.

CPSC
data also shows that in between 2008 and 2010 there were 22,000 injuries
associated with product instability or tip-overs involving children younger
than 9. That number is more than half of all estimated instability and
tip-over injuries between 2008 and 2010.

Over
the last decade, 60 percent of tip-over fatalities involved a television.

Kids
are also in danger of suffocation if they become accidentally trapped in a
cabinet, toy chest or laundry machine; in 2007 alone there were 3,270
injuries to children ages 2 to 14 involving toy chests.

Furniture Hazards/Tip Overs
Top safety tips to help prevent tip-over hazards If a piece of
furniture is unstable or top-heavy, secure it to a stud in the wall using
brackets, braces, anchors or wall straps. Large items such as TVs,
microwaves, fish tanks, bookcases, heavy furniture and appliances can topple
off stands and fall on children.

If you
have a newer, flat screen TV, make sure it’s properly anchored to the wall.

Read
the manufacturer's instructions for tips or warnings regarding placement of
your TV or furniture.

Keep
heavier items on lower shelves or in lower drawers.

Don't
keep remote controls, candy, toys or other items that attract children on
top of furniture, as your child might be enticed to reach for these items.

Dress
in layers and wear warm, close-fitting clothes. Make sure that long scarves
are tucked in so they don’t get entangled in lifts, ski poles or other
equipment.

Stay
hydrated. Drink fluids before, during and after winter play.

Kids —
or caregivers — who become distracted or irritable, or begin to
hyperventilate, may be suffering from hypothermia or altitude sickness, or
they may be too tired to participate safely in winter sports. They need to
go indoors to warm up and rest.

Children under 6 should not ride a snowmobile, and nobody under 16 should
drive one. All snowmobile drivers and passengers should wear helmets
designed for high-speed motor sports. A bike helmet isn’t sufficient for a
four-wheeled motorcycle that can go up to 90 miles per hour.

Cover
your child’s exposed skin with sunscreen to protect his skin from the
sunlight, which reflects off the snow.

Babysitter Safety

Selecting a Babysitter - Choose a babysitter recommended by a trusted source
such as a relative or a close friend.

Request
references for the babysitter you are considering and talk with references
before leaving your children with the babysitter.

Make
sure the babysitter is qualified to care for your children and capable of
handling an emergency situation.

Tell
your babysitter where your will be, how long you will be gone, and post all
your phone numbers in case he needs to reach you with any questions or
concerns.

Safety
Tips

Use the
following tips as a guideline to help you prepare your home and your sitter
before you leave.

Make
sure your baby’s crib is safe by checking the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission’s http://www.recalls.gov.
Ensure that your babysitter knows that no soft bedding, pillows, or stuffed
animals be placed with the infant in the crib.

Test
the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors with your babysitter so she
will know the sound of the alarms in case they sound. Make sure she knows
the family’s outside meeting place in case of an emergency and to call the
fire department from a neighbor’s home or cell phone once outside.

Ask him
to cut food into small pieces before feeding young children in the home.
Instruct him not to give any hard, round foods such as grapes, candy, or
peanuts to infants and toddlers.

Remind
your babysitter to latch the safety gates at the top and bottom of the
stairs and to always use safety straps on high chairs, changing tables, and
strollers.

Ensure
that your babysitter knows to stay within arm’s reach of all children when
they are in or near water, including the bathtub, pool and spa, and toilet.

Button
Batteries

Facts:
The coin-sized batteries children swallow come from many devices, most
often mini remote controls. Other places you may them are: singing greeting
cards, watches, bathroom scales, and flameless candles.

It
takes as little as two hours to cause severe burns once a coin-sized lithium
battery has been swallowed.

Once
burning begins, damage can continue even after the battery is removed.

Kids
can still breathe with the coin lithium battery in their throat. It may not
be obvious at first that something is wrong.

Repairing the damage is painful and can require multiple surgeries.

Top
Tips for Battery Safety

SEARCH
your home, and any place your child goes, for gadgets that may contain coin
lithium batteries.

SECURE
coin lithium battery-controlled devices out of sight and reach of children
and keep loose batteries locked away.

SHARE
this life-saving information with caregivers, friends, family members and
sitters.

Call
the National Battery Ingestion Hotline at 202-625-3333 for additional
treatment information.